1. Field
Vehicle bed extenders and storage systems.
2. Background
Various truck bed extenders, their characteristics, and their uses have been discussed in the literature. Representative examples of truck bed extenders are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,561,560; 6,557,918; 6,279,980; 5,700,047; and 4,472,639.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,560 discusses various vehicle cargo area extenders. In part, the '560 patent discusses a vehicle cargo area extender including a pair of sidewalls, a center wall extending between the pair of sidewalls and a lid removably disposed relative to the pair of sidewalls and the center wall. The sidewalls, the center wall and the lid cooperate to define an enclosure having an open end. The vehicle cargo area extender is moveably mounted between a stored position relative to a vehicle cargo area wherein the open end of the enclosure is adjacent to the rear wall of the vehicle cargo area and a deployed position so as to be supported by the rear wall of the vehicle cargo area when it is in its extended position such that the open end of the enclosure faces the vehicle cargo area thereby increasing the effective size of the vehicle cargo area.